Obviously Nutella isn’t great for you. But you might be shocked to find out just how much sugar it contains. Picture: Robert Pozo/AAP

Health

Foods that have more sugar than Coke

by Susie Burrell

21st Aug 2018 5:22 PM

WHENEVER there is talk of foods high in sugar, soft drink is generally mentioned.

With a massive 39g of sugar per 375ml can (or 10.6g per 100ml), soft drink is extremely high in added sugar - especially when you consider the relatively large portion sizes generally consumed.

What may surprise you is that there are actually plenty of other supermarket foods that have even more sugar than soft drink.

While we may not always consume 100g of the food in question, they are still exceptionally high in added sugars. Here are some of the worse offenders.

NUTELLA

Commonly referred to as a nut spread, a closer look at the ingredient list will reveal that Nutella is actually made from vegetable oil and sugar with just 13 per cent of the mix coming from nuts.

In nutritional terms, this means Nutella clocks in at 54 per cent sugars, or 10.9g of sugars in a single tablespoon. And let's be honest, who stops at just a tablespoon?

Not a health food. Obviously. But did you realise just how much sugar is in Nutella? Picture: Robert Pozo/AAP

TINY TEDDIES

A popular school lunch box addition, these plain sweet biscuits may look relatively innocent. But one-quarter of each of those cute little teddies is sugar - 25.1g sugars per 100g. Best to use only as an occasional treat for kids.

NUTRI-GRAIN

While breakfast cereal manufacturers continue to reduce the overall sugar content of many of their popular cereals, some remain high in added sugars. "Iron man food", for example, clocks in with 26.7g of sugar per 100g, or more than 2tsp per serve.

UNCLE TOBY'S YOGHURT-TOPPED MUESLI BARS

The word muesli sounds healthy, but in more cases than not there is a lot of added sugar in popular muesli bars, especially when they have toppings, confectionery and chocolate. In the case of these yoghurt-topped bars, sugar makes up almost a quarter of the bar, with 23g sugars per 100g or 8g of sugars per bar.

KAN TONG SWEET & SOUR SAUCE

We do not often thing of sauces in terms of their sugar content, but this variety of Asian cooking sauce contains a massive 18 per cent sugars or more than 23g of added sugar per half a cup serve.

Watch the dipping sauces — they often contain more sugar than soft drink.

WEIGHT WATCHERS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM SUNDAE

The brand may suggest a healthier alternative but with 26.8g of sugars per 100g or 20.9g sugars per serve, there is nothing low sugar about this dessert treat.

HILLCREST CHOC FUDGE MUFFIN BAR

When you find muffin bars in the muesli bar section of the supermarket you may assume that these snack foods are healthier options than traditional cakes and pastries, but with 30 per cent added sugars or 12g of sugars per bar, they are really just a cake in disguise.

TRIDENT SWEET CHILLI SAUCE

We are often told that tomato sauce is high in added sugar but it contains nowhere near the amount of sugar that sweet chilli sauce does. With 66g of sugars per 100g or 13.2g (close to 3 tsp) per tablespoon, sweet chilli sauce is two-thirds sugar.